English Poetry of the Second World War a Biobibliography
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·English Poetry of the Second World War A Biobibliography Catherine W. Reilly G.I~HALLc.{)J. 70 LINCOLN STREET. BOSTON, MASS. PR (Po IS V\U.plo R45 ,9~fo Published 1986 in the United States of America and Canada by G. K. Hall & Co., 70 Lincoln Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02111, U.S.A. Contents Published 1986 by Mansell Publishing Limited . (A subsidiary of the H. W. Wilson Company) 6 All Saints Street, London N1 9RL, England © Catherine W. Reilly 1986 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any Acknowledgements form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any vi Introduction information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the vii publishers or their appointed agents. Bibliographical Notes xv Bibliography of Biographical Sources xxiii Abbreviations Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data xxvi Key to Library Locations Reilly, Catherine W. xxviii English poetry of the Second World War. Anthologies Index to Anthologies Includes indexes. 18 Individual Authors 1. English poetry-20th century-Bio-bibliography. 21 2. World War, 1939-1945-Poetry-Bibliography. Title Index 3. E~glish poetry-Commonwealth of Nations authors 365 Bio-bibliography. 4. Poets, English-20th century War poets of other English speaking nations 391 Biography. 1. Tide. Z2014.P7R45 1986 016.821'91408 85-21650 [PR605.W66] ISBN 0-8161-8819-X I! Printed and bound in Great Britain 1 1 Acknowledgements Introduction I acknowledge, with gratitude, the help of the following while preparing this War, like love, is a constant theme in poetry. In English literature the terms work: John L, Fuller and R. Julian Roberts; the administrators of the 'war poet' and 'war poetry' were first applied during the Great War, j.C. Maxwell Memorial Fund, for the award of a travel grant; the librarians 1914-1918, and referred particularly to the poetry and verse written by the and staffs of all the libraries visited in the course of my research. soldier-poets who served in the trenches of France and Flanders. In actuality the soldier-poets, including those combatants serving in other branches of the armed forces, were in the minontyas the vast proportion of poetry and verse written on the theme of the First World War was written by civilians. The .-! bibliography of English poetry of the First World War which was published in 1978 and covers publications issued between 1914 and 1970, lists 2,225 poets, only 417 of whom are known to have served in the armed forces or other uniformed organizations such as the Red Cross. I This was the first bibliographical study that attempted to quantify the poetry and verse of the First World War. The results were not unexpected as it was always known that there was a remarkable quantity of poetry and verse, of variable quality, published on the theme of this most terrible war. Because of the delayed nature of poetry publication it was considered essential to cover items published over a fair period of time after the war in this last study and so also in the present study. It might take a poet several years to gather sufficient material to fill a volume and it could take even longer to secure publication; the work of established poets is constantly being updated by new editions; an 'amateur' poet might wait until late in life to pay for his work to be --r published by a vanity press. This present study covers 3,072 separate publications, including eighty-seven anthologies, issued during the years 1939-1980. It identifies 2,679 poets (although some only be pseudonym or initials), 831 of whom are known to have served in the armed forces or other uniformed organizations such as the National Fire Service. One might expect that there would be more poetry published on the theme of the Second World War because of the expansion in the publishing trade during the twenty-one years that separated the wars, and because of the greater number of people personally affected by the war in terms of personal danger. Both men and women were subject to call-up for the vi vii Introduction Introduction Services or for civilian warwork, and the entire population of the United non-literary occupations followed: William George Archer, museum keeper; Kingdom was at risk, to a greater or lesser degree, from enemy action raids. Joan Barton, bookshop owner; Swinfen Bramley-Moore, mechanical engineer;" However, the received view appears to be that there were more poets of the First John Cromer Braun, solicitor; George Wallace Briggs, Church' of England World War. The reverse is now proved and is further reinforced by the fact that canon; David Burnett, university librarian; William Henry Charnock, civil this study covers only forty-one years of publications as opposed to the engineer; Herbert Corby, civil servant; John Cotton, comprehensive school fifty-seven years of publications covered by the First World War study. Another headmaster; Harry Cross, college servant; Leslie Davison, Methodist minister; factor to be taken into account is the minimal number of cards and broadsides Stewart Deas, orchestra conductor; Audrey Field, film censor; George featuring war poetry published during the Second World War. They are a Rostrevor Hamilton, income tax commissioner; Henry Ernest Hardy (Father particular feature in the First World War bibliography and account for a Andrew), Roman Catholic priest; Richard Harris, actor; Frank Ivor Hauser, substantial number of poets being listed. The cards, often postcards, are small drama producer; Adrian Head, circuit judge; Cyril Hodges, industrial enough to be carried in the pocket or in a soldier's paybook. Although slight and manufacturer; Geoffiey Holloway, social worker; George Leslie Lister, further often trivial items, they wereincluded in the first bibliography because they are education adviser; James Monahan, Royal Ballet School director; John typical of the period and are now quite rare., Normanton, textile worker; Richard Caton Ormerod, diplomat; FredericJames Of the 831 poets listed here who are known to have been in the uniformed Osborn, town planner; Edith Pickthall, midwife; Enoch Powell, M.P.; services, 780 are men and 51 are women. Of the 780 men, 373 served in the Rosamond Praeger, professional artist and illustrator; John Rimington, Army and of these, 30 were killed and' 33 taken prisoner of war; 115 served in advertising executive; Ivor Roberts-Jones, sculptor; Patricia Mary St. John, the Royal Air Force and one in the Air Transport Auxiliary and of these, 21 missionary nurse; Frederick Henry Shilcock, inn landlord; David were killed and four taken prisoner of war; 77 served in the Royal Navy and of Stafford-Clark, psychiatrist; Ronald B. Wilcock, trade union worker; Arn~ld these,four were killed and two taken prisoner of war; six served in the Merchant Wilkes, banker; Darrell Wilkinson, consultant dermatologist; William Wolff, Navy and of these, one was killed; 176 served in an unspecified branch of the chartered accountant. armed services and of these, five were taken prisoner of war. A further 32 served The biographical data, although incomplete in many instances, reveal some in a branch of civil defence, which includes the National Fire Service, Air Raid interesting facts. Some 513 poets were university-educated. This figure Precautions and,the Home Guard. A few men had served in civil defence before precludes those who received other ,higher education not leading· to a degree, in joining the armed services;while Michael Croft served successively in the Royal the professions which now usually require graduate entrance, for example, Air Force and the Royal Navy, and Ian Gomersall served for a short time in the teaching, librarianship, etc. Of the 513 university students, 222 attended the Royal Navy, was discharged on health grounds then joined the Merchant Navy. University of Oxford, 133 attended the University of Cambridge, while the The latter two are counted here as members of the Service in which they spent remaining 158 attended various other universities. Two hundred and thirty most time - Croft in the Royal Navy, Gomersall in the Merchant Navy. Just poets worked in the teaching profession at some time, in universities, one civilian became a prisoner of war. Alex Potter, who had served as an polytechnics, colleges and schools. infantry officer in the First World War, was on the staff of the Continental Daily It will be seen that poetry regarded as good enough for publication is written Mail in France and was interned in Saint-Denis camp for four years. by many, not just~those working in the literary field. Few poets, even those of Of the 51 women, ten served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, eight in the the highest merit and standing, can make a living out of poetry by sales of their Women's Auxiliary Air Force, six in the Women's Royal Naval Service, one in books alone. The 'working poet' or 'full-time poet' is a comparatively recent the Territorial Army Nursing Service, three in an unspecified branch of the phenomenon. While publishing his own collections and contributing to women's services, 13 ir;J. the Women's Land Army and the remaining ten in a magazines and anthologies, he does freelance editing, runs poetry workshops, branch of civil defence, including two in the Women's Voluntary Service. acts as poetry tutor at residential courses, judges local poetry competitions, One hundred and thirty-five of the poets, men and women, wrote poetry and travels the country talking about his work, gives poetry readings and may verse on the theme of both World Wars and so are featured in both contribute topoetry programmes on radio and television, but it is indisputable bibliographies.